rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. >> we are done. all for "early start." thank you for joining us. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> welcome, everybody. a developing story. bitter winter storm wreaking havoc across much of the

country. roofs collapsing, drivers trapped and airports a mess two people are dead as record snow falls on the plains and flood warnings threaten the southeast. the storm turning out to be much worse than expected. live team coverage ahead. and a new shocking investigation, "usa today" says there is a growing bioterror threat from within our own country. talking about diseases like anthrax and the plague. details in leave report. new overnight, a hot air balloon carrying more than a dozen tourists explodes and crashes to the ground in egypt. also happening, one of britain's top catholic leaders speaking out about the grelatest scandal shocking the church. and a claim by a former friar that homosexuality is a ticking time bomb for the church. we are all looking at itsly

and why what's important for politic there is affecting what's happening in washington. tom price will join us, the secretary of the navy, ray mabus, and sybrina fulton and tracy martin, trayvon martin's parents join us, along with their attorneys, benjamin crump, richard blais and makazive mandela. "starting point" starts now. we begin this morning talking about the devastating winter storm in parts of texas and oklahoma. already buried under more than a foot of snow. one local mayor says we have roofs collapsing all over town. we'll speak to him in a moment. highways and airports shut down. take a look at this photo taken by ireporter philip prince, an instructor too, spent eight

hours stuck in his rig on interstate 40 east of amarillo, texas. two people have been killed. one on an ice-slicked road and another after a roof collapsed from the weight of the snow. severe weather is expected as far as florida. the massive system tracking to the north and east. wisconsin, michigan, illinois, all in its path. jennifer delgado is tracking the storm. erin mcpike is live in kansas city. we'll start with you. >> we're seeing snowfall two inches an houreer. very windy, looking at winds up to 30 miles per hour later today, and also, soledad, because of the snow last week, there is still a lot of heavy snow on branchs and power lines, snapping power lines, and lots of power outages throughout kansas city. we just got off the phone with

kansas city power and light. they have doubled from 10,000 to 20,000, those numbers will go down, right now they can't get out on the road to repair the power lines. we're looking at power outages in texas. another 10,000 no oklahoma. the storm looking to be worst than last week, soledad. >> a little bit of a mess. thank you very much. appreciate that. let's get to jennifer delgado. where is this all going? >> soledad, right now, it's actually right on top of the midwest. you saw the live shot where erin is out of kansas. kansas city, taking a beating right now. coming down very good along interstate 70. toward the east in st. louis, a break from the heavy rain, of course, that will be wrapping around. snow working in as we go later into the afternoon. i would say about noon time, seeing snow working into the region, and we talk about the totals, erin mentions worst than last time. we'll see 0 to 12 inches of

snowfall, and seeing winds in excess of 35 to 40 miles per hour, but then the storm moves up toward the northeast, and it will bring snow to chicago. right around 3:00, same for detroit. these areas need the precipitation. on the radar, a line of storms, a tornado watch issued, in place until 3:00 local time for parts of florida and into georgia. severe weather threat and this means a big travel mess. >> absolutely. jennifer, thank you. appreciate that. for folks in kansas city, missouri, a mess yet again. let's get to the mayor, sly james of kansas city, missouri. it was kin of a mess from last week. the last time we spoke, how bad is it now, considering that snow is piling up on top of the old snow? >> it certainly doesn't help very much.

the good news, we managed to get most of all of our main arteries clear, most of our side streets or residential streets are cleared. and we weren't in horrible shape. but this is now coming down hard, the wind is blowing hard and we expect another three, four, five inches between now and 9:00. >> i've heard totals of 6 to 10 inches, which would make it a big mess for you. what's the situation like? i will assume the schools are closed. has everybody cleaned out the grocery stores because they will be holed up in their homes? >> schools are closed, and i don't think there is a snow shovel anyplace in the area to be found. grocery stores have restocked as a result of this. we need to make sure people are safe. we are experiencing an increase in some first responder medical runs, at least earlier in the

evening, we have a lot of power lines, and we need to make sure people are safe with alternate power source. >> eventually it will melt, will be moved and they can get back to work. james, thank you for your time. he is joining us by phone this morning. now to woodward, oklahoma. the mayor told reuter's that roofs are collapsing all over the place due to the heavy snow. mayor rosco hill joins us by phone. mr. mayor, nice to talk to you, how are things where you are? >> well, we're -- we're in such a mess, we've got about 20 degrees right now, and we're frozen up pretty hard and emergency vehicles are having a hard time getting around, and we just have -- just had a pretty good sized mess on our hands. >> my goodness.

considering the reports in nearby oklahoma city, that the snow is collapsing roofs, are you seeing the same thing? that must be devastating if you can't get emergency vehicles to rescue anyone who might be trapped. >> we have had one roof collapse and one fatality. we've -- we discover snow plows are getting stuck and the traffic today is -- is still probably not very good. >> all right. mayor rosco hill joining business phone, talking about one roof that collapsed and a real dearth of emergency vehicles to get to people. other stories making news. john has that. >> thanks, soledad. a story out of middle east. 14 tourists trying to get a bird's eye view of tourist sites

when their hot air balloon exploded and plumb heed 1,000 feet to the ground. this happened in luxor, southern egypt. 20 people on board. 19 visitors from belgium, the uk, france and hong kong. and two egyptians, one of whom was the pilot. and a rocket fired from gaza struck a town in southern israel overnight. first such attack since the crease fire ended a week of fighting in november. this follows days of clashes following palestinian protesters over the death of a palestinian man. the rocket caused some damage, but so far no casualties reported. a mill tan gromilitant group cl responsibility. now this morning, "usa today" saying our country faces a bioterror threat from our own lands. agents like anthrax and the plague are being routinely

mishandled. we are following the story from washington. what's in these reports? >> it's pretty disturbing. as you mentioned, we're talking about anthrax, plague, and other potential bioterror agents, among the world's most dangerous pathog pathogens. the agency that handles them has been cited for security collapses. private government awed audits have repeatedly cited labs at the center of disease prevention. it obtained a report from 2008, 2009, 2010. the two main issues? failing to secure bioterror agents and failing to restrict access to approved employees and failing to entirely train these employees. >> pretty alarming report. how is the cdc responding? >> we got a statement from them.

and i'll read a quote here. according to the cdc, "cdc acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the infractions raised by the inspector general. the agency moved swiftly to take corrective action and do redundancies in procedures and system. nothing was released from our labs and worker and the public safety were not jeopardized. according to the cdc responding to the story, john. >> shannon travis, our thanks to you. soledad. new information on scandals looming over the final days of pope benedict's eight-year long reign. one of britain's top roman catholics says the highest ranking catholic in the united kingdom, kooechleith o'brien voluntarily stepped down after he was accused of "inappropriate acts" by priests. he was not forced out. pope benedict will keep the

title, his holiness when he retired and also called pontiff emeritus. i imagine nobody has ever really needed that title before. >> you are absolutely right. here i am near vatican swrar where they are handing out 50,000 tickets, putting up the risers and loud speakers. many catholics are expected to come here. you are absolutely right. this is an unprecedented situation. never in recent memory a pope emeritus. all of the details will need to be worked out. he will wear a simple white cossick after he steps down. in the meantime, the vatican has been in damage control mode. it wants to get past the scandals which have colored the beginning of this week. we know also you mentioned

cardinal o'brien, he will not be coming, it is unprecedented that a cardinal will not come here to take part in the conclave to elect the next pope. he will not be coming because of these scandals. he referred to that fact when he himself resigned. yesterday, i spoke to a former dominican friar, a practicing roman catholic and also openly gay. he said it's well known there is a very large representation of gays in the catholic clergy. here is what he told me. >> having been a friar myself and having been openly gay catholic for the last 25 years in my journalistic career, homosexuality is a ticking time bomb in the catholic church. on the one hand, the church teaches the condition of same-sex attraction is intrinsically disordered, cardinal ratzinger's own words from 1986, yet we know actually half if not all people attracted

to seminaries and the priesthood are gay themselves. >> now, the vatican is absolutely denying that these allegations of the gay cabal in the vatican are any reason for the pope's resignation. some of t some journalists don't believe the back mail stories in the press. >> quick question. he said at the end of that interview there we know actually that about half, if not more of all of the people attracted to seminaries and the priesthood are gay themselves. 50% of people in the seminaries are gay? where is he getting these statistics from? >> that's precisely what i asked him. he said as a friar himself and knowing so many of these dioceses, he has come up with that statistic. i don't believe that's a hard fact. how would anybody know.

i asked the plugged-in journalists about that, and he said perhaps in some various different dioceses, but u.s. quite a well known fact that there is a large proportion and this is something that, you know, the world's 1.2 billion catholics look on for the future wonder how the church will be reformed, if at all. there is this split within the catholic church amongst very traditional and conservatives on the one hand who want to continue the ratzinger line, if you like and among the more liberal who want the more modern church that takes into account issues of homosexuality and issues like should priests be allowed to marry. as ironically, cardinal o'brien suggested before he resigned. >> christianne, thanks. appreciate it. another big story. on friday, $85 billion in forced budget cuts set to take effect.

hundreds of thousands of jobs hang in the balance. is there still a chance for a grand bargain. we'll talk to tom price, vice you chair of the house budget committee. you're watching "starting point," back after this short break. with stayfree ultra thins. flexible layers move with your body while thermocontrol wicks moisture away. keep moving. stayfree. [ whirring ] [ creaking ] [ male announcer ] trophies and awards lift you up. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, what's next? [ zapping ] [ clang ] this is the next level of performance. the next level of innovation. the next rx. the f sport. this is the pursuit of perfection. the f sport. exciting and would always come max and pto my rescue. bookstore but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself.

and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula. i just fed the recommended amount... and they both loved the taste. after a few months max's "special powers" returned... and i got my hero back. purina cat chow healthy weight.

welcome back, everybody. we're three days away until massive budget cuts are set to hit. the forced cuts, what the government calls the sequester, would slash $85 billion from the budget. some say the cuts are unnecessary for a bloated budget that keeps increasing every year. tom price, the vice chair of the house budget committee. republican from the state of georgia. >> thank you, soledad. good to be with you. >> thank you. i appreciate that. three days until the forced spending cuts, a/k/a, the sequester. here is what president has said about that. >> these impacts will not all be felt on day one.

but rest assured, the uncertainty is already having an effect. companies are preparing layoff notices, families are preparing to cut back on expenses. and the longer these cuts are in place, the bigger the impact will become. >> governor jindal, bobby jindal seemed to suggest that the president was overstating dramatizing. >> we have to get the economy rolling again, and one of the ways is to increase the spending in washington. the president has talked about all of the things that will happen, but what we're looking at is a 2.5% reduction. the level of spending we had just two years ago. i don't remember all of these bad things happening two years ago. are there challenges? absolutely. are the house republicans working positively to try to make certain we get through these challenges?

you bet. we will provide flexibility to the administration to make certain that the bad things that the president cites don't happen, and if they do, it's because he wants them to. >> forgive me, sir. explain that to me, when you say you are coming up with a different plan, walk me through what that plan in. >> there is an opportunity to do what's called reprogramming or greater flexibility on the part of the administration, so they would select where the $85 billion in spending reductions occurred. they came out of the last debt ceiling deal in august 2011. we have to move forward at that level. we have to bring spending down to get the economy rolling. the administration, appropriately, i believe needs more flexibility on that score, and the house republicans will begin working on that, moving forward to give the administration that flexibility. >> people who analyze all of that say there are huge political risks to the white house. will they go for that deal being the ones who basically have the

burden of making the cuts and spelling out what should be cut, having that laid on their plate? >> well, i think what the american people know is they had to cut their budget 2.5% or more. 10%, 15%, 20%, over the past two to four years. they want to see the same activity in washington. not to get a number on a page, it's to get the economy rolling again and creating jobs. regardless of where the decision is made obviously, the executive branch is the branch that carries out the laws of the land, and it's their responsibility to do so. regardless of where decisions are made, it's important we understand it's the dme we get rolling, jobs and this is part of that puzzle. >> tom price, republican from georgia, thank you for joining us. coming up in the next hour, ray mabus, secretary of the navy, will talk to us about the forced cuts as well. and still coming up, the dow and s & p 500 had one of their worst days. what exactly was behind the drop? what can we expect today?

growing outrage over a music video, a 9-year-old talking about coke isn't a bad word, smacking a woman on the rear end, and driving around in a flashy car. we'll talk about that when "starting point" is back in a moment. because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip.

you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!! ♪

welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans, minding your business. stock huts indicate a higher open for stocks. that's a relief, because it was a brutal day for stocks. dow and s & p had the worst year. dow now 380 points away from its record high. fear is back. the vix which measures fear, soared. investors flocked to the safety of gold and bonds. fear of a weakened consumer and fear in europe. italy, elections left no clear party in majority. so gridlock there at a time when italy has a major debt and spending problem, 11%

unemployment. a shrinking economy. and political turmoil italy, austerity, at the very moment, on the verge of austerity in the u.s. forced spending cuts days away, those cuts will likely slow our economy too. if those cuts stand, $85 billion taken out of the economy between now and the end of the fiscal year, will cost 750,000 jobs. that is why there is fear all of a sudden after we were trying to hit new records for weeks now. >> christine, thank you. still ahead, one year since 17-year-old trayvon martin gunned down in florida. and it sparked a nationwide fewer yore over race and stand your ground laws, up next, his parents join me with attorney benjamin crump. one of the best ways to reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke. the die that's could save your life. we'll talk about that in a moment. you're watching "starting point."

(train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. ahh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. look! over time, a competing gel can leave cloudy hard water deposits, but cascade complete pacs help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. love it or your money back. a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today.

[ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you.

stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com.

welcome, everybody. you're watching "starting point." a developing story this morning. millions waking up right now to the most snow they have seen in 40 years. blizzard already battering large parts of texas and oklahoma and leaving thousands buried under more than a foot of snow. drivers stranded on snow-choked roads. two people killed. winter storm warnings stretch north to illinois with severe weather in the forecast as far east as florida. we have the winter storm heading straight toward kansas, missouri, to wisconsin to illinois. and to michigan. erin mcpike is live for us in kansas city. they are suffering through the second major snowstorm in a week. what a mess. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. yes, it is a mess. and this snowstorm is worse than the one we saw just last week. i will show you why. we've got really heavy, heavy thick wet snow right now as you can see, not like the fluffy

snow, and because of that, this is snapping branches throughout the area and bringing down power lines, we just got off the phone with kansas city power and light. 10,000 outages in kansas city. and they can't get repair crews out to repair crews until the roads are better. we see cars on the roads. the roads are still bad. i-70, the major interstate that stretches across the country really is not closed. con flingting reports, it is open, but authorities are really urging privateers to stay off the roads as best they can. airport is still open, but many flights canceled. >> erin mcpike, dealing with inclement weather. there are several other stories we are watching as well. including a search for a family with young children lost at sea apparently. john has that for us. >> that's right, soledad. a family floating off monterey,

california, for a second night. the husband, wife, and two children forced out of their sailboat on sunday when it started taking on water. >> coast guard, coast guard, we are abandoning ship. this is the "charm blow" we're abandoning ship. >> the coast guard will look again today, but they have few clues to work with. >> one of the most prominent holders of that office ever died yesterday at the age of 96. serves during most of the reagan administration and got the nation to focus on key health issues like hiv and aids prevention and getting americans to stop smoking. . more about the deadly explosion last wek at a kansas city restaurant. a city official tells cnn a company laying down a fiber optic cable did not have a work permit for the job. an employee ended up drilling

into a gas line. an hour later, the huge blast killed one person and injured at least 15. not having that permit could mean up to six months in jail. three hours from now, the senate finance committee will vote on jack lew's nomination. o they will vote on whether to end the filibuster on chuck hagel's nomination to be defense secretary. hagel is expected to be confirmed. more evidence suggests that the secret to heart health is what you need. a just-published study finds eating a mediterranean style diet with nuts, olive oil, even some wine cuts cardiovascular death rights by 30%. spanish researchers ended the study early about five years into it, saying it would be unethical not to end the study. okay, finally, a rap video

featuring flashy cars, women in tight clothes, suggestive dancing, not unusual, but this rapper is 9 years old. unusual and using lyrics like coke is not a bad word. child welfare workers are taking a closer look at li'l poopy's youtube video. the boy's father told a boston tv station his son has done nothing wrong and police have not filed criminal charges or arrested the boy's father. a lawyer says it's freedom of speech. >> we have a lawyer on our panel, natalie jackson, outside the craziness, he's 9. that nice red car, he can't thrive that. the jewelry down to the belly button. i mean, child endangerment seems a little wrong. >> it does. there is a line between freedom of speech and child welfare.

i don't think there will be any charges, unless there is something in his life or his parent's life. >> i like the story about m mediterranean diet. live forever in greece, but can't get a job. mixed blessing. >> the people who believe in the low-fat diet very, very low-fat diet, don't necessarily think it's all cracked up to be. >> it's not low fat at all. >> and it's hard to believe, of course, that it's been a year ago since 17-year-old trayvon martin shot to death in sanford, florida, by george zimmerman who claims he shot martin in self-defense. the unarmed teenager was racially profiled by zimmerman. martin savidge has a look back at this case on the one-year anniversary. >> reporter: it starts with a phone call. february 26, 2012. >> we've had a lot of break ins in our neighborhood recently and

i'm on neighborhood watch. >> a cold and dreary night in central florida, and george zimmerman just spotted trayvon martin in his community. >> are you following him? >> yes. >> we don't need you to do that. >> zimmerman, who is hispanic and martin who is black struggle in the dark. >> you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> what -- >> there's gunshots. >> how many? >> there's one. >> zimmerman shoots the teen, claiming self-defense. photos show him bleeding from the nose and the back of the head. sanford police decide not to bring charges because of florida's stand your ground law. that triggers a national outcry. >> we are trayvon martin, we are trayvon martin! >> reporter: the justice department announces its own investigation to martin's death and sanford police. tensions rise with the release of 911 recordings, in them, some

use zimmerman use a racial slur. analysis by cnn is inconclusive. march 2 2nd. sanford police chief steps down and rick scott appoints angela curry to lead a special investigation. the next day, president obama speaks publicly about the case for the first time. >> if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. >> reporter: march 4th, a group call the new black panther party offers a $10,000 reward for zimmerman's "capture." trayvon martin rallies held across the country demanding zimmerman's arrest. april 11th, zimmerman charged with second degree murder and turns himself in. bond set at $150,000 and three days later, he walks out of jail in the middle night of, only to return six weeks later when a judge revokes his bond after prosecutors say zimmerman and

his wife lied about being poor at his bond hearing, failing to mention hundreds of thousands of donated dollars from supporters, this time zimmerman's wife is also arrested, charged with perjury. july 6th. zimmerman's release from jail again, now on $1 million bond and goes into hiding. zimmerman appears on fox news. >> anything you might do differently in retrospect now that time has passed a little bit? no, sir. >> reporter: his defense team lobbies successfully to have the judge in his case replaced. justice for trayvon martin foundation hosts a rally. the anniversary will be marked here in the community of sanford with a small candle-light vigil, it's anticipated april 4 bring a stand your ground hearing and potentially after that in june,

the trial of george zimmerman. soledad. >> thank you for the update. appreciate that. right to trayvon's parents and their attorney. natalie jackson also with us this morning as well. does it feel like it's been a year? been ten years? or feel like it's been weeks? >> as far as us losing him, it feels like a long time. i guess because the pain is deep it feels like we'll bev going through this a long time. >> it's been a year, and it seems like yesterday. because when you -- when you have the loss of a child, not easy to get over it. >> i can't imagine. >>ith still very fresh in my mind. just like it was yesterday. >> he would have been 18 on february 5th. >> yeah. >> when you think back to this last terrible year, are you now

focused on legacy? are you doing this for trayvon in some way? >> we're doing this for trayvon. we're doing this so we can help other kids. we have seen since this happened last february to trayvon, that other kids, other teenagers have been shot and killed, you know, through senseless gun violence and we feel like we need to do something about it as parents. i have a son on earth and a son in heaven, and i'm going to do my best as a parent to work on both. >> i had a chance to meet your son. at the time, he was very affected. how is he doing now? >> it's still very hurtful for him. trying to stay in school, maintain his education and still try to get through this, you know, with losing his brother. it's difficult for him.

>> you feel like you've become activists, very involved in trayvon's case and gun violence as a whole. you are becoming spokespeople in a way. do you feel like it's moved you into a new role? >> in a experiensense, we feel to become spokespersons for senseless violence and just to have ourson's life taken away and what he meant to us was the world for us to go out, advocate for other parents and other voils people, it means a great deal to us and to the world. >> we examine inwhether stand your ground laws should be changed. the panel says it should be upheld. didn't attack stand your ground like many people. i know you were hoping, what

does this mean for your case? >> well, it means -- let's not look at it from that perspective. let's look at some of the positives. this is the first time in about five years that there has been no new stand your ground laws enacted and any other states in america, so i would say that was a plus for the average for trayvon martin. remember, soledad, this time last year, nobody knew about this law called stand your ground. now everybody knows about it, saying this is asinine that you can be the aggressor, the instigator, shoot and kill an unarmed kid and say stand your ground and go home and sleep in your bed at night. >> is that what will ultimately decide the case? will it be george zimmerman on trial for stand your ground. stand your ground, look at this charge as well? >> i don't think so. i think the evidence will decide this case.

hopefully, stand your ground will be denied on april 29th. that's important. tracy and sabrina deserve their day in court and their trial by jury and not have some asinine law to stop the killer of their child to face the evidence. the evidence is going to convict george zimmerman. >> if you get a chance to have your time in front of a jury, what would you say? >> i would tell them that to us that trayvon was your average teenager. weer in said he was perfect. no child is perfect. but we loved him. and we just feel that his life was cut short too soon and it could have been prevented. we feel like it's just to lose a child and keep moving forward. >> i cannot imagine. cannot imagine. we appreciate you coming to talk

to us on the one-year anniversary. just a brutal day. but i know you are trying to get the message out. thank you for talking us with. mr. crump, thank you as well. we'll take a short break. i should mention, tomorrow morning on "starting point" we'll speak with george zimmerman's attorney,mark o'mara, to talk about the case from their perspective. still ahead, manti te'o making hard for scouts to remember the fake girlfriend scandal. is he up to nfl standards? he masters top chef. now richard blais out with his first cookbook, he'll join us with that. ♪ to tracking field conditions. ♪ wireless is limitless. bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles

on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? [ crows ] oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? p, i brought my a-team. vo: business trips add up to family time. this is my family. this is joe. hi joe! hi there! vo: earn a ton of extra points with the double your hhonors promotion and feel the hamptonality.

yeah we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless.

well, i guess he couldn't run fast enough to put the fake girlfriend thing behind him. manti te'o unimpressive at the nfl combine. his stock may be falling, not only because of the fake girlfriend, but the fact of how he's doing speedwise. rachel nichols, you spent the weekend at the combine. >> i was there yesterday. interesting to watch te'o working out. so many concerns were how will he do with the distractions. the nfl people somewhat about this whole fake girlfriend scandal, what it means. what it says, what we talk about. his character, but whether he knew, when he knew, how he knew? honestly nfl teams care about how he plays on sundays. all kinds of players that teams have drafted with all sorts of offfield scenarios. this is not the kind of thing

that should have sank him. however, not playing well, not performing well on the field that will sink you every time. >> how bad was he? >> not terrible. we're talking about degrees, tenths of a second. but that can be everything in the nfl. what's a concern, that's all it is at this point. a concern. we don't want to be overdramatic. his last performance on the field, he was disappointing. here at the combine he was exceedingly average. disappointing for someone who played in the national championship who was a heisman contender. then you start to put that together and you wonder, is he distracted? will he be better as he goes? or maybe not that good? >> what is the history of t performance at the combine and the performance in the league? >> like everything else that we try to determine.

it's an indicator. tom brady drafted in the sixth round. all kunds of players that didn't do great in the combine. >> i have my money on manti te'o. i really do. for him to have a lot on his head, and i think that may be why he's average. come on, people. >> he will have other opportunities. he has a pro day at notre dame coming up. individual meetings with teams. this will not sink him, just november challenge to overcome. >> another person with twins on our set this morning. a short break. still ahead, a fan favorite from top chef, previousing he's one of the very best. he won top chef all-stars, now richard blais out with his first cookbook. look at that, bringing it to us right now. you can do these recipes at home easily. watching "starting point," back in just a moment.

did you know not all fiber is the same? citrucel is different- it's the only fiber for regularity that won't cause excess gas. it's gentle and clinically proven to help restore and maintain regularity. look for citrucel today.

it's gentle and clinically proven to help restore and maintain regularity. if youthen this willbrids arbe a nice surprise. meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max come. c-max go. c-max give a ride to everyone it knows. c max has more passenger volume than competitor prius v and we haven't even mentioned... c-max also gets better mpg. say hi to the super fuel efficient ford c-max hybrid.

richard, you are "top chef." >> wow! "richard, you are top chef" the moment he claimed victory on bravo season eight "top chef all-stars." now he has his very first cookbook, it's called "try this at home" that would be his head on the platter, nice to have you with us this morning. >> great to be here. >> you write in your intro introduction you didn't spend your introduction at provance. >> that's the typical chef story, scrambling milk crates in

an old house. i grew up in the microwave and frozen food and my first job was at mcdonald's, and that's my story so i had a prestigious position, i was the poisigniette which means fish cook in french and i forgot to put the top on the first, i was avant-garde. >> why did you write a cookbook? you've been doing successful restaurants. why did you feel a need to put it in here? >> for me this book try this at home a lot of people think that my food is high-tech and science driven, we use a lot of gadgets which is true but when you run towards a liquid nitrogen tank cameras tend to follow you more frequently than if you run for salt, pepper and vinegar and i can cook well with salt, pepper,

butter, normal basic home cooking food as well been. >> are these recipes you want to cook at home on a tuesday night or sunday night? this is stuff you come home from eight hours and gotten off the subway? >> a lot of these are simple recipes you can cook during the week. some of them are weekend things. this one here, this is the centerfold picture of the book. >> that is that your family? >> this is my family and it is the centerfold and this is topless spaghetti night and that's sunday night for us. >> that's us, too. >> kids get messy. >> who doesn't? who is not having spaghetti topless. >> people come over on sundays, my 4-year-old will say you have to take your shirt off and it's a weird introduction. >> if they want to eat good food they better do it. favorite recipe? >> roast chicken. lemon curry and black pepper and a spin-off of lemon and black

pepper chicken, super easy and one of my favorites. >> i want to try that because i can't cook very well. >> you say that but -- >> it's true but i'd like to try that. richard blais, congratulations. >> thank you so much. an epic winter storm is battering america's heartland after burying parts of oklahoma and texas in up to a foot and a half of snow. states being targeted right now, we'll tell you where it's going. a taste of mandela, brand new wine that bears the name of the former south african leader. his daughter and granddaughter will join us live on "starting point" to talk about their new and unusual business venture. we're back in a moment. ♪ my friends, they do surround me ♪ ♪ i hope this never ends ♪ and we'll be the best of friends ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the reimagined 2013 chevrolet traverse. all set? all set. with spacious seating for up to eight.

imagine that. chevrolet. find new roads. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. relieving the pain quickly. i've always kept my eye on her... but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. how we get there is not. we're americans. we work. we plan. ameriprise advisors can help you like they've helped millions of others. to help you retire your way, with confidence. ♪ that's what ameriprise financial does.

that's what they can do with you. let's get to work. ameriprise financial. more within reach. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel). the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy, increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breastfeeding, should not use androgel.

serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. so...what do men do when a number's too low? turn it up! [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%.

good morning, welcome everybody. our "starting point" this morning, millions of people are waking up to a deadly winter blast, impassable roads, airports that are closed, roofs collapsing, rescue workers unable to get to people who are injured, blizzard and flood warnings spanning the country, we have live team coverage. we're learning more about the pope's plans after he steps down and exploring the scandal that clouds his final days as the head of the catholic church. christiane amanpour joins us ahead. at least 14 tourists are dead after a hot air balloon explodes and plummets to the ground. we will take you there life. will markets take another big fall on wall street or why investors today are keeping a close eye on europe this morning. it's tuesday, february 26th and "starting point" begins right now.

welcome, everybody. ron brownstein, editor yat director at "national journal" and natalie jackson attorney for trayvon martin's family. nice of you with us. john berman sticks around of course. our big story the blizzard, some calling it the blizzard of the agencies, it's already battered the southern plains, left large parts of texas and oklahoma buried under a foot of snow. one local mayor said we have roofs collapsing all over town in observing soklahoma city. amarillo, texas, 17 inches of snow, second worst snowstorm ever to hit that city. two people have died on the storm, one at an icy kansas interstate and one in their home where the roof caved in because of snow. here's the mayor of woodward, oklahoma, describing what the blizzard is doing to his small town. >> we're in such a mess we got

about 20 degrees right now and we're frozen up pretty hard and we are, our emergency vehicles are having a hard time getting around, we just have a pretty good size mess on our hands. >> at this hour, winter storm warnings are in effect all the way to the great lakes as this massive system tracks north and east with kansas and missouri and wisconsin and illinois and michigan all those states in its path, jennifer delgado is at the cnn weather center. erin mcpike is live for news kansas city where they're expecting maybe more than a foot of snow. erin let's start with you. every time i come to you, you look more covered in snow. good morning. >> reporter: it's getting harder to see, coming down harder and

windier, expecting gusts up to 30 miles an hour in kansas city and soledad behind me there are cars coming up and down this hill. we did just see a big truck try to come up and he rolled all the way back down the hill and came back up. something else i want to show you is just how heavy the snow is. it's really heavy. it's snapping branches and kansas city has gone up to over 30,000 power outages, we're seeing over 40,000 in the state, with missouri and kansas, more in texas, more in oklahoma so we really need to be careful with heating that's a problem for the rest of the next couple of days. >> what a mess. erin thank you for the update. let's get to jim simms, the cititicity commissioner in amarillo, texas. lots of snow there. i guess you're looking at some

historic snowfall, 18 inches, as much as 20 inches. how is your city doing? >> we're holding up well. it was a lot of snow, blizzard conditions because of the winds we had but we have a great staff here, great crew and good equipment and we handled it. i hear the problems other places have, woodward but we fared relatively well. >> we're glad to hear that. you sound almost practically chipper while you talk to me. it's not been the case for some of the other city leaders i've been talking to. how about stranded motorists? that's been a problem in the midwest and the plains. tell me if that's a struggle and problem for you guys. >> yes, ma'am, it was, because people were caught on the highway traveling on interstate 40 and then our own residents, remember that early sunday afternoon it was 63 degrees. within 24 hours we had

40-mile-an-hour winds and 20 inches of snow. so it caught a lot of people by surprise. our first responders including fire trucks were out getting people out of their cars to try to get them unstuck if we could but then you try toy get them to safety. >> i'm glad to hear you were able to handle it. thank you for talking with us on a morning i know you're really busy, mayor jim simms of amarillo, texas, joining us, thank you, sir. also a dangerous winter storm and not even done or even close to being done. jennifer delgado is at the cnn weather center in atlanta. where is it going and now short term and long-term, too. >> right. everything's done in texas. right now it's spinning on top of the midwest. you can see across missouri dealing with that snow, you see the center of circulation. what kansas city is going to pick up potentially another four to five inches of snowfall already they've picked up between four and five inches and if you look towards the east a little bit quiet there but we're going to see a chance of the

snow coming in roughly about an inch for st. louis on the back side of that low. of course a lot of that moisture is going to be moving up towards the northeast and that means snow for areas including chicago, and chicago we are talking three to six inches of snowfall and that will start to come down around 3:00 and of course that evening commute will be a bit messy there and for detroit, three to six inches. the other part of the story the severe storms moving through florida right now. we have a tornado watch in place until 3:00 and that means the potential for severe weather from the florida panhandle up towards south carolina through 3:00 this afternoon, and then of course flooding is going to be a big deal, many areas right now under flood warnings and watches. soledad, one to two inches. >> jennifer delgado is like ms. doom and gloom. >> you match my graphic right now. >> thanks, jennifer, appreciate it. let's get new details on the scandal that's looming over the final days of pope benedict's

eight-year reign. one of britain's top roman catholics said cardinal keith o'brien voluntarily stepped down as the archbishop of scotland after he was accused of "inappropriate acts" by fellow priests. they made it clear in the news conference that he was not forced out. we're also learning pope benedict will keep his holiness title once he retires and preparations are being made for the tens of thousands of catholics expected to show up to say farewell to the pope. christiane amanpour is in vatican city this morning. cristiane, good morning. >> good morning to you, soledad. all of those things you've been talking about are transfixing so many catholics. 1.2 billion around the world, just want to know every detail of what's going on here in the vatican. cardinal o'brien did resign, the pope did accept his resignation

because of the scandal swirling around him which he denies by the way. nonetheless it is unprecedented that a cardinal will not be here to take part in the conclave to elect the next pope. what we're hearing is as regards to that conclave we don't know exactly when it's going to start but what we do know according to the vatican press people today that they won't even have a formal meeting until next monday and only then or after then will they tell us what date the actual election starts, the conclave to elect the next pope. so all sorts of things happening here, this road right next to me is going to be full of pilgrims tomorrow, they're coming to see pope benedict doing his last sort of turnaround st. peter's square, which is just behind me. he'll be in the pope mobile and give his last public appearance there before taking off 8:00 p.m. on thursday night rome time at which point he will no longer be pope but he will be pope emremr

emeritus. he will not be wearing the red shoes that have become his signature. soledad? >> well what does he wear then? just -- >> reporter: exactly. it begs the question. we're told maybe some brown shoes, maybe some shoes that he was given on his last visit to mexico. seriously on that account, though, it was his trip to mexico and cuba which i covered last year which i think really solidified for him according to all we're hearing he could not go on as pope, he was too tired and felt he needed to start paving the way and very plugged in vatican watchers tell me he had been talking about the idea of resignation about a year ago, if not more, and they started to pick up on this. an unprecedented situation. there's never been a pope emeritus. it will definitely affect how the next pope handles business. this isn't just the head of the roman catholic church it's a global statesman. any time a pope moves, travels,

says, does anything, it's world news, for better or for worse and there is no other faith leader that has such a huge following, such a huge flock, more than 1 billion people. >> that's right his pontiff emeritus is a new title now. christiane amanpour, thanks. john berman has a look at other stories making news. this story still develop, 14 tourists trying to get a bird's-eye view of egyptian sites were killed when their hot air balloon exploded. three people, an egyptian and two british tourists are in the hospital, four others are still missing. ian lee is following the developments in cairo. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, john. what we're hearing, there was confusion over the number of dead, we're hearing from state media up to 18 people have been killed in this incident.

it was travel about 1,000 feet up, plummeting toward the ground and this is area of luxor when you go up you can see the nile valley, popular with tourists, you can see the valley of the kings. the governor in luxor banned all hot air balloons while they investigate and this is the first real major incident we've seen in the last four years when we saw 80 people injured over the span of two months. there were some investigationing, some actions were taken so this is the first -- investigation will take place to find out what caused and what happened when the hot air balloon blew up, john. >> ian lee our thanks to you. new this morning our country faces a bioterror threat from its own labs, that according to "usa today," government watchdogs cited the centers for disease control and prevention for failing to secure deadly agents like anthrax and the

plague. cdc spokesman saying the agency accepts responsibility for the infractions, has moved swiftly to fix the problems and that nothing they say got out of the labs. right now in berlin new secretary of state john kerry is saying with regard to iran's program there is a diplomatic path. later he's set to meet with angela merkel. he met earlier with the nation's foreign minister. germany is the second stop on kerry's premiere diplomatic tour. he'll visit nine countries over 11 days. short time he insisted there is a diplomatic path to be forced with iran as six world powers began meeting today with iranian officials in kazhakstan. president obama will be talking about the forced spending cuts, an estimated 40,000 civilian defense

department jobs in the region could be furloughed if the cuts are not stopped. we'll get more from white house correspondent dan lothian. >> reporter: from the welders and sheet metal maintenance workers, washington's inability to avert deep cuts has left them uncertain about their futures. >> everybody's talking about it and worried. >> reporter: work on 13 ships at several of its sites would have to stop if a deal wasn't struck. >> if it goes fully and we run completely out of work, there will be a skeletal crew in here, just to keep the plant up and running. >> reporter: this air of uncertainty is why some members of virginia's congressional delegation took part in a town hall meeting in newport news monday. >> i've given my personal salary into my business because i love my business and you guys i think need to do the same thing. >> this is not a republican issue. it's not a democratic issue.

it's a national issue. it's our boys, our girls, our families. >> reporter: president obama is painting a grim picture to put pressure on congress. >> these cuts do not have to happen. congress can turn them off any time with just a little bit of compromise. >> reporter: but some republicans aren't buying it. >> i think that the president needs to stop trying to scare the american people. >> reporter: and the town hall meeting lawmakers all convinced that cuts will happen were blaming the president. >> we welcome him to newport shipbuilding and hope he brings with him a definitive proposal with all the entourage he'll have with him. >> reporter: it's not just those civilian defense workers who are concerned here in the region. there are a lot of small business owners who are worried if the furloughs happen there will be fewer customers coming to them so we expect the president to address the broad impact of those cuts but also we expect the president to go after republicans accusing them of

trying to protect those loopholes that benefit the wealthy and big companies. john? >> dan lothian in newport news, a lot of politics, three days away from the spending cuts. >> down to the bitter end, we've seen this movie before. >> i think this time we go over the bitter end to see if there's an alternative and there may not be. >> partly because it doesn't have the moment like the fiscal cliff did? >> the consequences are more spread out. >> we'll have more on the cuts straight ahead, one of the hardest hit groups the military and offense, are we putting our country at risk? ray mabus is the secretary of the navy and he'll join us next. earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. auto

oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? p, i brought my a-team. vo: business trips add up to family time. this is my family. this is joe. hi joe! hi there! vo: earn a ton of extra points with the double your hhonors promotion and feel the hamptonality. and wesley & ashley are looking for a brand new smartphone. let's go. we've got a samsung galaxy sii on t-mobile monthly4g for only $299 with no annual contract.

nice! [ earl ] see for yourself. get the samsung galaxy s ii on t-mobile's nationwide 4g network. walmart. nationwide 4g network. it's not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels. it's a hawk with night vision goggles. it's marching to the beat of a different drum. and where beauty meets brains. it's big ideas with smaller footprints. and knowing there's always more in the world to see. it's the all-new lincoln mkz. . welcome back to "starting point." we were talking about a moment ago, today the president is headed to newport news, virginia, to talk about job losses in the shipbuildingtry. my next guest will be joining the president, ray mabus is the

secretary of the navy. why this particular shipbuilding operation is where you're going to be, the president will be coming to us this afternoon, this morning or this afternoon? >> he's going to be coming to huntington ingalls industry, they build all of our nuclear carriers, the ones that refuel our nuclear carriers and build half of all of our nuclear submarines so they're incredibly important and to navy, to navy readiness and to the protection of this country. >> okay, so if the sequester happens in three days, then what happens literally day one to that particular shipping operation? >>. >> there's going to be impacts to navy readiness. we already delayed the "truman" strike group going to the middle east, we have to delay an amphibious ready group going out. we're going to have to, if sequestration keeps going we have to take down four of nine

carrier air wings and it will take us a year to get them back and it will cost two or three times at much and if we lurch from this budget crisis to the next artificial budget crisis, the continuing resolution at the end of march, we'll start cutting some significant number of workers here. we'll lose about 7,500 workers by the end of the year and these are highly skilled, highly motivated people who build ships that nobody else can build, and if sequestration hits, you're looking at the possibility of furloughing 5,000 workers at the public shipyard here and you're looking at another 40,000 government workers here in the norfolk area and 90,000 across virginia who will lose 20% of their salary before the end of

the year and the resulting impact on the readiness of the marine corps to protect the country. >> good morning. some in congress would like to give you more authority to allocate these cuts. would you be better off if they did not have to be across the board but you could have more ability to channel them in one direction or another? >> you know, everybody knows sequestration is just a bad idea and the notion of somehow playing around the edges to make a bad idea a little bit better is not a solution. solution is to fix this thing and the president has presented a balance, a strategic and comprehensive approach. we've got to fix sequestration. we've got to fix the continuing resolution. we've got to fix the underlying issue and not just play around the edges and try to make a really bad idea somewhat marginally better. >> ray mabus, secretary of the navy joining us, thank you for your time, sir, appreciate it.

still ahead on "starting point," many say working from home is the future of the workforce but one company says nope, they're putting a stop to it. we'll tell you about the uproar created by this new policy at yahoo! that's a look at what's trending, coming up next. [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the rx f sport. ♪

this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. once you try an oral-b deep sweep power brush, you'll never want to go back. its dynamic power bristles reach between teeth to remove up to 76% more plaque than sonic in hard to reach areas. oral-b deep sweep 5000 power brush.

taking a look at what's trending no more working in your pjs at yahoo!. marisa meyer has ordered those working at home to get back in the office from june. folks say they need that flexible workplace. the british billionaire for some reason bririchard branson decid

to weigh in, she's totally wrong. donald trump though says yes, employees should be expected to come into the office. >> isn't the point, i mean the media and message are colliding. isn't the point of the internet revolution yahoo! is supposed to be at the cutting edge to get people online. >> it's all about hanging out in the hallways and you don't get that working at home. >> it's interesting the number of people who pointed out as a female ceo somehow she owes a debt of i guess laying out a way to work for family-friendly environment which i'm not sure is her burden because she's a woman. >> she doesn't want to accept the mantle. >> i don't think that's her burden but i think it's important people have other people to work with. we work from home but we meet because you have to have an exchange of ideas and make for

activity so i think it's important. >> she's not even doing the well i work from home one day a work. she's like it's done. so iran apparently put some clothes on michelle obama, the country's news agency photo shopped the first lady's dress to cover her shoulders when they reported on her rengs for the oscars and dismissed "argo" as an advertisement for the cia, "argo" is about the secret operation to get americans out during the hostage crisis. >> dress still looks good with sleeves, they did a nice job. >> she's probably like i should get that with sleeves, too. they did a beautiful job. more horse meat troubles to talk about, ikea meatballs sold in europe. should americans be worried about horsemeat in our meat supply? we have some information that could surprise you. david acheson will be joining us and a center of a controversy

over a costume he wore, we'll talk about that after the break. yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the deliciousness you desire. the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real.

google's backyard for the wbing it on challenge.. [fight bell: ding, ding] what's your preferred search engine? search engine, uhh, probably google. if we do a side by side blind test comparison, and you end up choosing google, you get an xbox. i'll bet you the xbox, you bet me your son. well let's look up what you need. okay, i would do the left. yeah? what?! i am a daddy! bing wins it! bing won. bing did win. people prefer bing over google for the web's top searches. don't believe it? go to bingiton.com and see what you're missing. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] nothing gets you going quite like the power of quaker oats.

today is going to be epic. quaker up.

welcome back. you're watching "starting point." ikea is pulling its famous swedish meatballs from stores in 14 different countries after horsemeat was found in them. ikea is assuring customers in the united states that it is not here. how worried should americans be about horse meat making it into our supply? the managing director of safety import and practice david a t s acheson, could horse meat be in our meat supply in the u.s.? >> it could be but the chances are low it is.

>> why? >> why, because we have such strict controls with the vast majority of our meet. i won't say you couldn't have some unscrupulous meat supplier doing it but i honestly think the chances are low because of the robustness of our u.s. meat system. >> we now after 2011 legislation change and you can slaughter horses, we send them out of the country, the meat out of the country so they're processed in canada and mexico. we get meat from canada and in mexico and as far as i can tell the usda doesn't test that meat for to see whether or not it's horse meat or beef, so you know, it doesn't sound like it's such a stretch to think that possibly we'd be sending horsemeat, we're sending it to canada or mexico and it's coming back to us packaged as beef or something. >> you know, it's possible. i won't say it's not possible, i just think it's unlikely and i think the vast majority of the

beef we're consuming is beef, and as long as it's appropriately labeled it's okay to do that. if it's labeled as horse, fine, consumers know. i think what confuses people or worries people is they think they're buying beef and it turns out it's got something else in it. that's what people worry about. >> here in the united states the bulk of people think ick when it comes to eating horse. >> yes. >> and yes my technical term, ick. i think that a lot of the horses they slaughter are the retired racehorses and those are animals that have been shot up with steroids for a long time like all the time and then they use the drug butte on our horses for aches and pains but that's cancer-causing especially in small children so the risks are huge if you're dealing with animals that have any kind of drugs, right? >> you're right, soledad. i think you said it. if you put this on a score of zero to ten the ick factor is

ten. everybody hates the notion they're eating horse. from a food safety perspective you're down at a one or a zero. you raise the point of drug residues absolutely and it is a possibility but if you take a low likelihood it's in there anyway, horsemeat and the possibility that horsemeat contains some cancer causing drug at some low level, let's put this in perspective of risk to the public and recognize that the safety side is low, the ick factor i agree with you is way up there, really an unpleasant thought. >> i get you and don't want to put it out of perspective for the real risk to the population. at the same time, there are people now in europe who had no idea they were eating horse, so somehow, something happened that allowed them to, who also thought they were having beef or some kind of meatball that didn't have horse in it to have horse. so i can't figure out why you're so certain that it's not a potential problem. >> you know, i didn't say i was certain. >> you're right. i'll give you that.

>> right, i'm not saying it's certain. i am saying the likelihood is low and let's put it in the context of safety and you make the point the europeans didn't know and what that speaks to is the american consumer, the european consumer when they read a label and it says beef they want beef, they want assurance that the beef supply is beef. >> god, i do, yes. >> right. so that speaks -- >> i'm following you, you're saying it's a low, low risk. i appreciate your time dr. david acheson, thank you for being with us sir, appreciate it. >> great pleasure thank you. we're also following the other big story the deadly winter storm and john has a look at that and other news, too. >> thanks, it is developing at this moment. millions of people in the heart of the midwest caught squarely in the path of a killer storm. the system leaving thousands buried under more than a foot of snow in the southern plains. two people have been killed and snow-choked highways are shut

down in several states. winter storm warnings stretch all the way to the great lakes with severe weather in the forecast all the way to florida. this historic system now tracking to the north and east with kansas, missouri, wisconsin, illinois and michigan all in its path of destruction, a very big storm. a young couple from california has gone missing in peru and their families are desperate for information. jamie neil and garrett hand have not been heard from since january 25th n peru on a biking communication when all communications stopped. it's feared they may have been kidnapped. don haiken said he's sorry if he dressed in black face for a party. he wore an afro wig and had his face painted brown for a celebration of the jewish holiday. he told the "new york times" he was supposed to be a black basketball player. >> walk us through the purim

party. >> you can dress up ins could sums and he thought going as a black basketball player was appropriate. >> why? >> obviously not totally thought through. >> i think it's stupid when regular folks do that but an elected official, you don't think someone is going to take a picture, put it on their facebook page and search going to say that is stupid? >> black basketball player, why doesn't he be a white basketball player. >> so much to talk about. thanks, john, appreciate it. one year ago today 17-year-old trayvon martin was shot to death in sanford, florida, by george zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder, the trial will go on in june. trayvon martin's parents stopped by in our last hour and they spoke about devoting their lives to what they call ending senseless gun violence in the wake of their son's death. here's what they said.

>> reporter: on the anniversary of the killing of unarmed florida teen trayvon martin that sparked protests and ral rallies across the country, there is now a renewed fight over the controversial stand your ground law that could make his killer, george zimmerman, a free man, once again. c >> can you start a fight, lose the fight and claim stand your ground? >> reporter: michael believes stand your ground laws are ineffective and should be repealed. >> it promotes vigilanteism. you take care of the situation or don't listen to the police or law enforcement. >> reporter: late last week a task force returned to its final report supporting the law, it asserts "all persons who are conducting themselves in a lawful manner have a fundamental right to stand their ground and defend themselves from attack." >> all stand your ground is, is a form of the self-defense

defense, but it gives a defendant a lot more ability to use self-defense because self-defense is so broadly defined in stand your ground. >> you can do away with the statute and look to common law. >> reporter: zimmerman's legal team has signal they'll stand for self-defense. >> he was being in reasonable fear of great bodily injury and resist with deadly force. >> reporter: weeks before the start of the stand your ground hearing florida lawmakers are raising several bills from incremental changes to full repeal. some acknowledge it will not be easy. >> we are in for the fight. we know that when america changes, we have growing pains. these are difficult growing pains. >> reporter: victor blackwell, cnn, new york. >> in the wake of that shooting many gun control advocates want florida to scrap that stand your ground law which permits people

to use force to protect themselves without retreating their ground, the law gained nationwide attention when george zimmerman was claiming that he shot trayvon martin in self-defense. so of course the question now becomes since the governor of florida has basically said, the panel that he impanelled has basically said they think that stand your ground should stay, what does this mean for the case itself? >> i think for the case it really never had an impact. we've said from the beginning that george zimmerman didn't qualify for the stand your ground law. this became an issue because the sanford police department said he did and they provided that defense for him, that's why there was an outcry for an arrest. >> the next step the judge has to decide is this a stand your ground case or not. >> yes. mark o'mara is not sure if he'll have the hearing or just go to trial and have a self-defense claim. >> but is it conceivable then he could decide this is a stand

your ground case and that is the end? >> that's what would happen at immunity hearing, that would be it, there would be no trial. >> that could be appealed? >> no. >> so he can end this case with that ruling. >> yes, judge nelson could end that case. >> everybody will be watching what judge nelson will be doing in june. >> the stand your ground hearing is scheduled for april and the trial is for june. >> if it goes forward. still ahead on "starting point" the name mandela of course is associated with civil rights but now getting a new association, wine. nelson mandela's daughter and granddaughter, look what they have brought for us this early in the morning. we're back in just a moment with "starting point." you got to bring it in. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change,

tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you. all right that's a fifth-floor probleok.. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars

switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl. it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat.

welcome back. if you mention the name mandela most people think of the former south african president and ant anti-apartheid leader. the mandela name is on a product not associated with his legacy, wine, and a fine wine it is, his granddaughter and daughter formed the house of mandela brand and a portion of the profits of hair wine sales will improve the lives of africa's poverty stricken places. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> why this as the next step to really leverage the very wildly famous and important name mandela in south africa? >> well, i think it's important to use this name to promote south africa itself. the wine industry itself is an agricultural product, it's about the soil. it employs about 400,000 people

in south africa. it contributes to the gdp of south africa so it's an important industrial sector of south africa and why not we use the house of mandela name to promote a good product, a product of the fruits of the soil to south africa, africa in the world. >> were there people in the family concerned about using the mandela name on any sort of thing versus as you know right, the mandela name to some degree is really about an ideal in a way. >> i think there will always be concern. what my father has always said to us, if you use the name for commercial or charitable or political, use it with a lot of integrity and responsibility. what we are trying to do as the house of mandela is continue our legacy of the house of mandela to promote the values that my father also emphasizes very strongly that he was made by the

customs, by the traditions, by the values of his ancestors, they shaped him and he always tells us we should always remember who we are and remember those values, so we believe, because this is the fruits, the mandelas where they come from are agricultural people, they farmed so there's good synergy between what we are doing and the mandela fam itself. >> tell me how you pick the vineyards that get to contribute to what eventually becomes a bottle of cabernet sauvignon? >> we work with a master of wine because we wanted to make sure the wineries that we chose adhere to certain principles so we wanted to make sure they were family owned wineries because we're a family owned business, wanted to make sure they treated their workers with dignity and respect, that they expected the biodiversity of south africa. so those things were quite

important to us in terms of the wineries that we chose. you'll see this collection is a fair trade product so it comes from a fair trade farm and with fair trade products there's a premium that's placed on the product so that money goes back to the farm workers so it's for their education, it's for their housing, toward the salaries if they have a stake in the wine because most fair trade wine farms are co-ops, we make sure all of the wineries adhere to the principles. if the wineries don't adhere to the principles we don't work with them. >> i'm going to take a sip. oscar pistorius, what is your take on what's happening there in south africa, and also we now know there's going to be a movie made of your father's autobiography, "the long walk to freedom" edris elba.

tell me those who things while at 9:00 in the morning i have a glass of wine. >> the oscar pistorius issue is a tragedy. i am a mother. i am a mother of four children i have brought up my late brother's children so in all i have 11 children i've brought up and i think if i was a parent either reeva's parent, i would be devastated. i wouldn't know what to do. my son, my youngest son knows reeva and she says she was a very, very good person and i feel sorry, i also empathize with oscar pistorius' parents because if it was my son, i don't know where i would start, if your son killed somebody as it is alleged so it's a tragedy for all of south africa also, not just a tragedy for those two families, for us as south africa because oscar pistorius has a role model to a lot of kids. reeva was a beautiful person

inwardly who associated with people from different walks of life, so it's truly a tragedy for us and we wish south africa could quickly get over this and we look for a better future, not just one that puts a cloud on our country. >> maybe the trial will be sort of a start to a beginning and end or you know, whatever ends up happening in that trial. thank you for joining us. this wine i had a sip is delicious. it's wonderful. i know it's early to be drinking wine so i'll stop it. i just had to technically i was forced to taste it and tell you that it's great. good luck with the new business venture. >> thank you very much soledad. thank you. >> we have to take a break. still ahead macy's and martha stewart? it's a big fight as jcpenney is in the middle. we'll tell you about the legal showdown. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. omn. you know how to mix business... with business.

and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. yes, you could. before i do any projects on on my own.st at angie's list, you'll find reviews written by people just like you. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second.

which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪ [ whirring ] [ creaking ] [ male announcer ] trophies and awards lift you up. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, what's next? [ zapping ] [ clang ] this is the next level of performance. the next level of innovation. the next rx. the f sport. this is the pursuit of perfection.

the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999.

[ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. good morning. welcome back. i'm christine romans minding your business. stock futures indicate a higher open. home depot shares up 2% before the open. strong earnings report for home depot. in about six and a half minutes we'll get a home price report and new home sales data in over an hour, that would be relief from a brutal day for stocks yesterday. the dow, the s&p 500 had the worst day of the year thanks to an elections in italy that resulted in gridlock and fear over impending forced budget

cuts. when it comes to saving for college americans are falling short, a critical study says only 50% of americans with kids are saving for college, down from 60% from three years ago. even those who do save aren't saving as much as they like. parents selling sallie mae they feel overwhelmed annoyed, frustrated or scared. martha stewart's messy business dealings under scrutiny, macy's testified he hung up the phone up on martha stewart when she told him she'd be doing business with rival jcpenney. macy's says it has exclusive rights to sell twrt's home goods. lundgren testified made him "sick to his stomach." she called him to break the news the day before the peney deal went public. he hung up on her and hasn't talked to her since. her sheets are a top seller at

macy's, this is a look into three household names and when she came out of prison in 2005 it was a big macy's deal that helped rebuild her brand, the ceo is saying you can't go behind my back. >> isn't there a lawyer who says there's an ironclad contract? >> that's what a new york supreme court case will find apparently martha stewart and jcpenney thinks it not and macy's thinks it is. >> as a lawyer everything is flexible when it comes to contracts at times but the end of the day we look at terry lundgren, he feels betrayed. >> yes. >> that is the interesting thing, he feels all he did for that brand and for her personally. >> it's a rare look behind some titans of the things that we buy and household names it's interesting. >> we have to take a break, "end point" is up next. and it tastes? sure does! ♪ wow. [ buzz ] delicious, right? yeah.

it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? bee happy. bee healthy. with clusters of flakes and o's. oh, ho ho... it's the honey sweetness. i...i mean, you...love.